Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Yep, I got the Robotics Invention System, Mindstorms Kit for Christmas! Hope you all had a great holiday as well. I know this has been out a while and many people already know all of these details but this is still the best "toy" around so I am reiteraing this info. For the unfamiliar the Legos Mindstorms are driven not only by many complicated interlocking blocks but by an input-output device(s) (RCX) and motors. The kit comes with tons of building parts, wheels, tires, gears, 2 touch sensors, 1 light sensor, 2 motors, one RCX, and plent more to enable you to build a plethora of bots. It also comes with some Windows based GUI software for writing your own programs to control your inventions. Thats nice and all that but what I want to do is extend the capabilities by using LegOS. LegOS is not only an alternative language for the RCX but is also a firmware update that includes these features: Dynamic loading of programs and modules, full IR packet networking, preemprive multitasking, dynamic memory management, drivers for all RCX subsystems, 16 MHz native mode speed and access to 32k RAM. LegOS is also open source and runs currently on RedHat and SuSE Linux (should be an option in the installs!) Impressive. Once I get some fancy bots rolling I will write a review and post more info here. Check out the Lego WorldShop for kits, parts, pricing and details (but note, they are not the cheapest place, they just have a lot of information, buy elsewhere.)   Lego Mindstorms